Tags

HASAKAH – The United States has delivered a second batch of ammunition to fighters of the Kurdish-Arab alliance battling the extremist group of Islamic State (ISIS) in northern Syria, a U.S. official reported.

The first batch of weapon shipment was delivered on October 11 through an air drop.

The joint forces, mainly known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), consists of nearly 10-12 groups that may reach to almost 5,000 fighters, many of whom stood alongside the Kurds finding them a well-organized force on ground in northern Syria.

Backed by the U.S.-led coalition’s air cover, the SDF has recently recaptured the key town of al-Hawl in eastern Hasakah province, on the Syria-Iraq border.

In a shift in its anti-ISIS strategy, the U.S. second batch of weaponry was delivered on Saturday by land, the U.S. official added, without further details.

Turkey, the U.S. NATO ally, has repeatedly criticized bolstering Syrian Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) on ground in northern Syria, expressing its concerns following the first ammunition air drop.

Turkey, which has its own large Kurdish population of approximately 15 million, fears of any advance by Syrian Kurds on the southern borderline.

After stopping the plan of training fighters outside Syria, Washington started supplying groups headed by U.S.-vetted commanders inside the country as a new strategy for combatting ISIS.

The U.S. military has expressed confidence that the ammunition helped the SDF who were able to recapture territories in the northeastern province of Hasakah, including the key town of al-Hawl ــthe main ISIS bastion in northeastern Syria.

The new delivery of weapons would most probably push the SDF fighters to target the terror group in the town of Shaddadi south of Hasakah.